Winter Driving Experience

[nashbrydges]

I did a search of the forum and it seems that most winter inquiries center around charging and range however my questions are unrelated to those.

I am interested in how the car behaves in the winter months and whether you've had to change things as a result.

For reference, my car is parked outside with no garage access and I will have winter tires mounted to the car (if that makes a difference in your answers). I live in the snow belt in south-western Ontario.

Specifically...
- Do you continue to use one pedal driving or do you turn that off when road conditions are poor?
- Do you find that the weight of the car makes a difference in its handling dynamics (for the better or worse)?
- Do you have to deal with frozen or snow compacted charging port and door?
- Since there is no engine or exhaust heat, do you find that the wheels get packed with snow and ice and do you routinely have to clear them out?

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[Mauser]

I'm very interested in this post as well, being in Alberta. Definitely following this thread.

 

[RickMachE]

Make sure any tires you buy are extra load as required.

As to your questions:

- I don't use 1PD, but if you do and come off the accelerator too fast, it's similar to doing too much braking
- Of course the weight matters, but 50/50 vs front heavy cars is an advantage, as is AWD
- No
- I never found that engines or exhausts melted wheels or wheel wells.

 

[Nklem]

A snowy Maine Winter last year: My car stayed outside too. 7000 snowy miles. I recommend the Continental Viking Contact 7. Awesome snow tire. I dare say quieter than the OEM Michelins. BTW I keep mine plugged in outside at night, where my ChargePoint is located, and precondition before every trip.

Specifically...
- Do you continue to use one pedal driving or do you turn that off when road conditions are poor? No I do not use 1 Pedal at all. To me that may be unsafe, just my opinion. I am old school, gas and brake. I found driving in Unbridled sometimes caused some slip on ice when coasting.
- Do you find that the weight of the car makes a difference in its handling dynamics (for the better or worse)? Better, it goes everywhere in the snow/Ice etc with no issues.
- Do you have to deal with frozen or snow compacted charging port and door? Yes at the door. I carry a can of lock de-icer in the car. It works like magic. Snow packs into the Hinge area. Also Spray with Silicone Spray at the start of the season on the door, hinge and areas. Consider a cover. The fenders are Aluminum so magnetic solutions do not work. My Hyundai Ioniq cover worked well and held well by friction. Search my posts.
- Since there is no engine or exhaust heat, do you find that the wheels get packed with snow and ice and do you routinely have to clear them out? Not at all. The brakes get hot enough.

 

[ctenidae]

My experience is Tesla-specific, but this should apply to EVs in general:

Traction control/1PD: EVs control wheel spin by finely adjusting power. The Tesla won't let you spin wheels, whether flooring it or letting off suddenly in 1PD. They are very very good at this. Frustratingly so, if you're trying to do parking lot donuts in the snow. There are tricks to induce wheel slip because sometimes it's useful. Letting the car do the braking with 1PD lets the computer judge grip and slow you down as best it can under conditions- I never drove in any other mode.

Weight: Damned if you do, damned if you don't here. Extra weight is good for traction, bad for braking. But, like with any car, you have to increase your stopping distance and drive appropriately. You'll figure it out. Unless the programmers really messed it up, shouldn't be too difficult.

Ice/Snow packing: Never had an issue in the Tesla that I noticed. Pretty sure I've knocked snow out of every wheel I've ever had, at some point. For the charge port, you probably want to make sure you don't get plowed in, or let the snow pile up too much, since the anemic latch isn't going to give you much support. However, pushing the door in to release it will probably break loose any ice around the edges.

The thing you're going to miss most and have to contend with is being able to precondition the car before you leave in the morning. Heating up a cold-soaked car takes A LOT of juice. This will impact your range significantly. Might want to find a nearby coffee shop with an L2 charger and go plug in to warm the car before you head off on your commute.

I'm in Connecticut, so only week-long spells of really cold to deal with, and not huge quantities of snow, but enough to put the car to a solid test. The Tesla's electronics behaved better than my prior BMW's in the cold, at least. It was also 1000% better at driving in the snow than the 400hp rear wheel drive 6-speed was...

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